WASHINGTON 
The head of the Republican Party called on President Barack Obama to withdraw Kathleen Sebelius' nomination as health secretary unless she answers more questions on abortion.

Senators scheduled a final vote on Sebelius for early next week and she was expected to win confirmation.

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele said Thursday that Sebelius, the Democratic governor of Kansas, has not been forthcoming about her ties to a Kansas abortion doctor, George Tiller.

"Significant questions remain about Gov. Kathleen Sebelius' evolving relationship with a late-term abortion doctor as well as about her position on the practice of late-term abortions," Steele said in a statement. "If Gov. Sebelius and the Obama administration are unwilling to answer these questions, President Obama should withdraw her nomination."

"This is nothing more than a baseless attack from someone desperate to stake a claim as the leader of the leaderless Republicans and get right with the right-wing of his party," said Reid spokesman Jim Manley.

Steele's statement came after Republicans blocked immediate action Thursday morning when Reid called for a vote on Sebelius. Thursday night, though, Reid announced a deal with Republicans to hold the vote on Tuesday, with a 60-vote margin required for approval after six to eight hours of debate. Democrats were confident they had the votes to prevail.

Sebelius was approved by the Senate Finance Committee this week with just two of 10 GOP votes. Several Republicans, including the top committee Republican Chuck Grassley of Iowa, raised concerns about her initial failure to disclose to senators how much campaign money she got from Tiller.

When the discrepancy became public Sebelius acknowledged getting an additional $23,000 from Tiller and his abortion clinic beyond the $12,450 she initially reported. She apologized and said it was an inadvertent error.

That happened after Sebelius breezed through her Finance Committee confirmation hearing early this month without a single senator raising the topic of abortion. Republicans had some cover on the issue because Sebelius was supported by both her home-state GOP senators, including Sen. Sam Brownback, a strong abortion opponent.

But since then opposition from anti-abortion activists – and pressure on Republican senators – has grown.

Sebelius told the Finance Committee that she personally opposes abortion, but she also has a long record in Kansas politics of supporting abortion rights. She's repeatedly vetoed legislation sought by anti-abortion groups to impose more regulations on abortion clinics and rewrite the state's restrictions on late-term abortions.

Just Thursday, in fact, Sebelius vetoed a closely watched measure that would have required doctors performing late-term abortions to report additional information to the state. She questioned whether the bill could withstand a court challenge and suggested some provisions could lead to "intimidation" of health care providers.

Steele, meanwhile, has had problems of his own on abortion as he's sought to firm up his conservative bona fides since becoming GOP chairman earlier this year. Last month he insisted he was "pro-life" after a magazine quoted him as saying abortion was "an individual choice."

Sebelius is the final Cabinet nominee awaiting confirmation. She was Obama's second pick for the HHS job after the president's first choice, former Sen. Tom Daschle, withdrew over unpaid taxes.

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Associated Press writer John Hanna in Topeka, Kan., contributed to this report.